Quintessential JB records?

[soulforger]

I always read that DeGarmo used 59s on those albums. Wilton also used Duncan Custom's here and there from what i have read in interviews.

I could see that, Wilton had had a JB in his sig ESPs for years as well as his Eclipse and Mirage guitars he played over the past 20 years, though he recently switched to a Distortion in the signature. Around Warning and Rage they were playing Kramers. Barettas on Rage which probably had JBs in them, Warning they had a Voyager (Wilton) and a Pacer Special (DeGarmo) which may have had JBs or even Schaller Golden 50s. Later when they started making some more dough they started to incorporate Les Pauls and Strats in the studio for certain parts. Wilton had a favorite Les Paul with P90s that he recorded some parts with and Chris a black Custom, that seems to be mostly after they had switched to ESP along with many Kramer artists. Still I'm guessing most of the guitar sounds on Warning and Rage for Order are JBs, and some of Mindcrime and Empire as well?

 

[GuitarStv]

Funny, as it doesn't sound like a typical JB to me. I am sure it is the original, but if any JB I tried sounded like that, I'd dig them.

Jeff Beck has got a very peculiar touch on the guitar - really hard (if not impossible) to imitate.

 

[Mincer]

Jeff Beck has got a very peculiar touch on the guitar - really hard (if not impossible) to imitate.

Oh I get it..but his Strat playing certainly sounds like a Strat- you can hear the vintage single coil pickups.

 

[Chistopher]

Funny, as it doesn't sound like a typical JB to me. I am sure it is the original, but if any JB I tried sounded like that, I'd dig them.

I've heard the early JBs were different, but I can't confirm except for some of Darth Phineas's testing he posted to his website

 

[GuitarStv]

Oh I get it..but his Strat playing certainly sounds like a Strat- you can hear the vintage single coil pickups.

Is he using vintage pickups now? Everything I've read says that the ones in his strat are heavily overwound, really high output, and super mid-rangey. Barely sound like regular strat pickups at all.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

 

[devastone]

I could see that, Wilton had had a JB in his sig ESPs for years as well as his Eclipse and Mirage guitars he played over the past 20 years, though he recently switched to a Distortion in the signature. Around Warning and Rage they were playing Kramers. Barettas on Rage which probably had JBs in them, Warning they had a Voyager (Wilton) and a Pacer Special (DeGarmo) which may have had JBs or even Schaller Golden 50s. Later when they started making some more dough they started to incorporate Les Pauls and Strats in the studio for certain parts. Wilton had a favorite Les Paul with P90s that he recorded some parts with and Chris a black Custom, that seems to be mostly after they had switched to ESP along with many Kramer artists. Still I'm guessing most of the guitar sounds on Warning and Rage for Order are JBs, and some of Mindcrime and Empire as well?

Pretty sure I remember reading that they were using custom would Duncans on Empire, not sure about Mindcrime. I do know I wore out multiple copies on Mindcrime on cassette and we played a few songs off of it back in the day.

 

[soulforger]

Pretty sure I remember reading that they were using custom would Duncans on Empire, not sure about Mindcrime. I do know I wore out multiple copies on Mindcrime on cassette and we played a few songs off of it back in the day.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see that they had some stuff custom wound, MJ would have it in that little book of hers They were into having amps modded as well so that would make sense. I think I read that they both had Tim Caswell mod some Marshalls around '88 or so...they were definitely chasing tones! There for at least a year and a half I listened to Mindcrime and Maiden's Seventh Son and nothing else...

 

[devastone]

LOL, you made me pull up Empire on Pandora, early QR is awesome, kinda fell apart after DeGarmo left, IMHO of course. I saw them with Geoff after Chris left. Kelly Gray is a fine guitarist, but no one sounds like Chirs, pretty amazing how integral he was to their early sound. FWIW, I also saw the Empire tour when they were headlining and did Mindcrime front to back with staging, one of the best shows I've ever seen. That was the tour the Operation Livecrime DVD came from, definitely worth a watch if you can find it.

 

[Mincer]

Is he using vintage pickups now? Everything I've read says that the ones in his strat are heavily overwound, really high output, and super mid-rangey. Barely sound like regular strat pickups at all.

Not now, but in the 90s, they were closer to vintage output, and very traditional Strat sounds, but very Beck-y.

 

[Mononoaware]

Yea forgot about that one. If there was 1 piece of guitar equipment that made everything played through it sound the same, it was the Rockman preamp. There are lead lines on "Echo" that do have some JB character I must say. I have always read about the fact that Joe used a JB on SWTA, but was there documentation of him saying this?

That's a good point about the Rockman. It only came onto my radar in the last few years, and I finally got a couple VST emulations (because I'm unlikely to ever have the real deal). The lightbulb finally went on that this is a sound I'd been hearing everywhere in the 80s and that there's no substitute. It's tons of fun to play with, but it really does impose a strong sound on whatever's being fed into it.

Joe's mentioned the JB in several interviews, including this fairly exhaustive blog entry on the Duncan site. He's got a very good memory of the gear he used on most things (unlike some other guitarists I could name). The JB may have been in a maple frankenstrat instead of the Kramer. https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/...i-talks-surfing-with-the-alien-track-by-track

 

[Reverberocket2]

The Cult - Sonic Temple
JB in a Les Paul Custom

 

[Demanic]

Megadeth "Rust in Peace".

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[fretburner]

Ozzy Osbourne's "Rock N Roll Rebel"

Best JB tones (in a strat) through a Marshall

The JB for me, is the perfect alder/mahogany-bodied, double cutaway pickup.

I don't like them so much in any other type of guitar, especially on Les Pauls.

I haven't had an ash-bodied strat though. And still looking to score a Gibson V. I bet a hot rodded set would sound great on that guitar.

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[Rex_Rocker]

The JB can be heavy too and not just be an 80's thing!

It can handle downtuning too!

 

[Mincer]

Ozzy Osbourne's "Rock N Roll Rebel"

Best JB tones (in a strat) through a Marshall

The JB for me, is the perfect alder/mahogany-bodied, double cutaway pickup.

I don't like them so much in any other type of guitar, especially on Les Pauls.

I haven't had an ash-bodied strat though. And still looking to score a Gibson V. I bet a hot rodded set would sound great on that guitar.

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Isn't all of Bark at the Moon a JB, or am I mistaken? Also Rock n Roll Rebel is a pretty awful song.

 

[Archer250]

Isn't all of Bark at the Moon a JB, or am I mistaken? Also Rock n Roll Rebel is a pretty awful song.

Thought it was that double screw JB Holdsworth model

 

[fretburner]

Isn't all of Bark at the Moon a JB, or am I mistaken? Also Rock n Roll Rebel is a pretty awful song.

Opening riff to RnR Rebel is the BEST Strat into a Marshall tone for me

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[Mincer]

Opening riff to RnR Rebel is the BEST Strat into a Marshall tone for me

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I'm good with the music until Oz starts stinging that.

 

[ToneFiddler]

MD 45-The Creed.(Remaster) - YouTube
I love the roar it's got in this song. this sort of tone is the first thing I think of, when I think about what I like about the JB

Cool, didn't know that song.
i think the speaker should get the credit for that, though!